During 19th Century-port of London busiest in the world. Surrounding the docks were many industries using imported goods and high-density, poor quality housing (typical old inner-city area).

In the 1950s-ships become bigger = unable to reach London’s docks.

By 1970s, area became derelict, with few jobs, few services and poor living conditions. Many people forced to leave area to look for work + better quality of life. The was because traditional jobs in docks were lost (manual, unskilled, unreliable and poorly paid) and most housing was substandard-lacking basic amenities (services e.g. water, sewerage, electricity..) and located in poor-quality environment.

Amenities definition: A desirable or useful feature/facility of a building/place. e.g. basic services in housing like electricity, water, sewerage…

In 1981, the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up to try to improve social, environmental and economic conditions of the area.